Luluvo

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	Stats Nouns 75% Verbs 95% Adjectives 100% Syntax 92% Words 1 of 1500

Luluvo Luluvo
Type
fusional
Alignment
ergative-absolutive
Head direction
head-final
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

Luluvo (also spelled Luluwo) is an ergative-absolutive language.

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n
Plosive	p b		t d			k g
Fricative	f v	θ (th)	s z	ʃ (sh) ʒ (zh)		x	h
Approximant			l		j (y)
Flap			r

Affricates: /tʃ/ (ch), /dʒ/ (j)

Vowels

Monopthongs: /a/ /ɛ/ /i/ /ɔ/ /u/

Diphthongs: ai, ei, oi, au, ou

Phonotactics

Consonantal onsets and codas are optional. Consonant clusters may not exist, although cross-syllable adjacent consonants. As a rule, diphthongs and codas generally do not co-occur in a syllable.

An otherwise voiced coda generally devoices before a voiceless consonant. Consonant length is phonemic in Luluwo; two adjacent identical consonants double its length. Stress usually falls on the first syllable of a word root.

Verbs

Luluvo verbs conjugate according to a variety of factors:

There are three persons (first, second, and third) and two numbers (singular and plural). The two voices are active and antipassive (as an ergative language, Luluvo has no passive voice).

The three moods are:

• indicative - indicates that something is a statement of reality or a fact
• subjunctive - used in dependent clauses to discuss hypothetical or unlikely events, as well as to express emotion, opinion, wishes, polite requests, and necessity; also used in conditional sentences for both the conditions and consequences
• imperative - used for orders and requests

The six fused tense-aspects are:

• present - actions according at the time of speech
• imperfect - actions continuing in the past
• future - events occurring in the future
• perfect - actions completed by the present
• pluperfect - actions completed by a point in the past
• future perfect - actions completed by a point in the future

Luluvo is split-ergative; despite the ergative-absolutive distinction, Luluvo verbs are nominative-aligning. This means that transitive verbs agree with the ergative agent, while intransitive verbs agree with the absolutive subject. Verbs in the imperative mood are the exception, as they always agree with the absolutive noun.

Luluvo verbs are categorized into two conjugations, both defined by their present indicative first-person singular ending: the First Conjugation, defined by the ending -au, and the Second Conjugation, defined by the ending -ei.

First Conjugation

Verbs of the first conjugation are typically transitive.

Indicative mood

	1st sing.	2nd sing.	3rd sing.	1st plural	2nd plural	3rd plural
present	-au	-o	-e	-ach	-u(n)	-em
imperfect	-(i)kau	-(i)ko	-(i)ke	-(i)kach	-(i)kun	-(i)kem
future	-as	-os	-es	-(i)sach	-us	-(i)sem
perfect	-odau	-odo	-ode	-odach	-odun	-odem
pluperfect	-uchka	-ujo	-uje	-ujach	-ujun	-ujem
future perfect	-odas	-odos	-odes	-otsach	-odus	-otsem

Subjunctive mood

	1st sing.	2nd sing.	3rd sing.	1st plural	2nd plural	3rd plural
present	-ivau	-ivo	-ive	-ivach	-ivu	-ivem
imperfect	-ivak	-ivok	-ivek	-ikicha	-ikinu	-ikime
future	-ivas	-ivos	-ives	-issach	-ivus	-issem
perfect	-ixau	-ixo	-ixe	-ixach	-ixun	-ixem
pluperfect	-ivuchka	-ivujo	-ivuje	-ivujach	-ivujun	-ivujem
future perfect	-ixas	-ixos	-ixes	-ivotsach	-ixus	-ivotsem

Imperative mood

	1st sing.	2nd sing.	3rd sing.	1st plural	2nd plural	3rd plural
Imperative	---	-/-ego	-egi	-ega	-egos	-egim

The imperative forms are used regardless of tense. The second-person singular imperative has two forms, the standalone verb root or with the ending -ego. Thus, vashau ("I kill") can be either vash or vashego ("kill!").

Other forms

Whereas nominative-accusative languages have a passive voice, Luluvo's primary method of valency reduction is the antipassive, which is done by removing the patient and promoting the ergative agent to the absolutive case. The verb is attached with the circumfix ip) (te. The antipassive verb approximately meaning "he kills" is thus ipvashite, from vashi ("he kills sth.").

Verbs also have an infinitive, used for forming non-finite clauses. For the active infinitive, the ending -fu is attached to the third-person present active indicative; vashau ("I kill") thus becomes vashifu ("to kill"). The antipassive infinitive is ipvashitefu.

Adjectival participles are formed by attaching the suffix -su for present tense and -ku for future tense to the active present indicative third-person form, after any antipassive circumfix. The active present and future participles for vashau are thus vashisu and vashiku, while the antipassive equivalents are ipvashitesu and ipvashiteku. They decline identically to regular adjectives.

Adverbial participles also serve as gerunds, or verbal nouns. The suffix -li is used; vashau becomes vashili ("killing"). The antipassive counterpart is ipvashiteli. When used as a verbal noun, the gerund is declined for case like a noun.

Second Conjugation

Verbs of the second conjugation are typically intransitive, but there are exceptions.

Indicative mood

	1st sing.	2nd sing.	3rd sing.	1st plural	2nd plural	3rd plural
present	-ei	-u	-i	-en	-us	-im
imperfect	-ek	-uk	-ik	-inek	-ikus	-imik
future	-et	-ut	-it	-enat	-usit	-imat
perfect	-es	-oi	-iyi	-ai	-oi	-imi
pluperfect	-le	-lu	-li	-aren	-arus	-arim
future perfect	-ihes	-ihus	-ihis	-ihen	-ihus	-ihim

Subjunctive mood

	1st sing.	2nd sing.	3rd sing.	1st plural	2nd plural	3rd plural
present	-ivei	-ivu	-ivi	-iven	-ivus	-ivim
imperfect	-ivek	-ivuk	-ivik	-ivanek	-ivakus	-ivamik
future	-ivet	-ivut	-ivit	-ivenat	-ivusit	-ivimat
perfect	-ives	-ivoi	-iviyi	-ivai	-ivoi	-ivimi
pluperfect	-levi	-luvi	-livi	-ivare	-ivaru	-ivari
future perfect	-ivahes	-ivahu	-ivis	-ivahen	-ivahus	-ivihi

Imperative mood

	1st sing.	2nd sing.	3rd sing.	1st plural	2nd plural	3rd plural
Imperative	---	-/-egu	-egi	-ega	-egus	-egim

Other forms

Like the first conjugation, verbs of the second conjugation have infinitives formed by the suffix -fu; present and future adjectival participles formed by the suffixes -su and -ku respectively; and gerunds formed by the suffix -li. For example, the verb nenei ("I arrive") would have the forms nenifu ("to arrive"), nenisu ("coming"), neniku ("soon-to-come"), and nenili ("arrival").

Ergative Prefixes

To express the ergative person, optional prefixes may be attached to the beginning of verbs. The prefixes are:

	Ergative prefix
1st p. singular	id'-
1st p. plural	ik'-
2nd p. singular	iv'-
2nd p. plural	if'-
3rd p. singular & plural	ich'-

Negation

Sentences are negated by placing the adverb zhak before the verb. For example, "they do not arrive" would choi zhak nenim.

Reflexive

Many intransitive verbs in English are expressed via reflexive transitive verbs in Luluvo. The reflexive pronouns are listed in the below section.

Nouns

Luluvo nouns (as well as adjectives and articles) decline to two genders (masculine and feminine), two numbers (singular and plural), and eight cases. The eight cases are:

• absolutive - indicates patient of a transitive verb and subject of an intransitive verb; serves as the lemma, or citation form, of the noun
• ergative - marks the agent of a transitive verb
• dative - marks an indirect object or the recipient of an action
• ablative - indicates movement away from something or the cause of the action
• genitive - marks a noun as possessing another noun, or being the origin of something
• locative - indicates location; often used alongside relational nouns
• instrumental - indicates that the noun is the instrument or means by which an action is achieved or accomplished
• allative - indicates motion towards the noun; also used with relational nouns

Declensions

Five declensions exist for all Luluo nouns, with the first and second declensions being the most common and the last (fifth) being the least. Singular and plural endings are indicated on either sides of a slash. Only the fifth declension does not possess a plural form.

	First (masc.)	Second (fem.)	Third (masc.)	Fourth (fem.)	Fifth (fem.)
absolutive	-u / -oi	-e / -ai	-o / -oi	-a / -ai	-i
ergative	-un / -on	-en / -an	-on / -noi	-an / nai	-in
dative	-us / -os	-es / -as	-os / -soi	-as / -sai	-is
ablative	-lu / -lo	-le / -la	-lo / -loi	-la / -lai	-li
genitive	-um / -om	-em / -am	-om / -moi	-am / -mai	-im
locative	-uk / -ok	-ek / -ak	-ko / -koi	-ka / -kai	-ik
instrumental	-ut / -ot	-et / -at	-ot / -toi	-at / -tai	-it
allative	-fu / -fo	-fe / -fa	-fo / -foi	-fa / -fai	-fi

Personal Pronouns

Pronouns decline to number and case. The first- and second-person pronouns do not decline for gender.

	1st p. singular	1st p. plural	2nd p. singular	2nd p. plural
absolutive	da	ako	vau	faho
ergative	dan	akon	(if)nau	fahon
dative	das	akos	(if)sau	fahos
ablative	itla	aklo	(if)lau	falo
genitive	dam	akom	(if)mau	fahom
locative	dak	akko	(if)kau	fako
instrumental	dat	akot	(if)tau	fahot
allative	itfa	akfo	(if)fau	fafo

However, the third-person pronouns are declined for gender. There is no neuter third-person pronoun, so the pronoun of any inanimate, non-human noun depends on its grammatical gender, i.e. a feminine noun would be referred to by cha in the absolutive case. Thus cho and cha can mean "he" and "she" respectively, as well as "it," depending on context.

The third-person pronouns:

	masc. singular	masc. plural	fem. singular	fem. plural
absolutive	cho	choi	cha	chai
ergative	chon	chinoi	chan	chinai
dative	chos	chisoi	chas	chisai
ablative	chilo	chiloi	chila	chilai
genitive	chom	chimoi	cham	chimai
locative	chiko	chikoi	chika	chikai
instrumental	chot	chitoi	chat	chitai
allative	chifo	chifoi	chifa	chifai

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used alongside reflexive verbs to express that the subject and object of a transitive verb are the same. A distinction is made between introverted reflexives (verbs that are inherently reflexive, e.g. "to wash (oneself), to perjure") and extroverted reflexives (verbs that are not usually reflexive but are used as such, e.g. "to kill oneself, to love oneself"). The pronoun ka is used for the introverted, whereas kale is used for the extroverted as well as to put emphasis on an inherent reflexive.

	kale	ka
absolutive	kale	ka
ergative	kalen	kan
dative	kales	kas
ablative	kalle	ikla
genitive	kalem	kam
locative	kalek	ikka
instrumental	kalet	kat
allative	kalfe	ikfa

Placed right after the subject in the same case, the pronoun kale is also used as an intensive pronoun.

Adjectives

Adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in number, gender, and case. The masculine and feminine forms of an adjective decline identically to the first and second declensions respectively. Adjectives generally follow the nouns they modify, as well as any definite articles.

Comparison

In addition to the positive form, adjectives also exist in the comparative and superlative, which are similarly declined for number, gender, and case.

	masc. singular	masc. plural	fem. singular	fem. plural
absolutive	-uf	-ofi	-ef	-af
ergative	-nuf	-nof	-nef	-naf
dative	-suf	-sof	-sef	-saf
ablative	-luf	-lof	-lef	-laf
genitive	-muf	-mof	-mef	-maf
locative	-kuf	-kof	-kef	-kaf
instrumental	-tuf	-tof	-tef	-taf
allative	-fuf	-fof	-fef	-faf

In sentences, the standard to which a comparison is being made has the same declension as the word it is being compared with. These sentences make use of the conjuction som ("than"), used in the format "X is comparative som Y," where Y is the standard. When comparing a part to a whole, the partitive genitive case is used.

Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They are indeclinable but may have comparative and superlative forms like adjectives.

Most adverbs are formed from adjectives by attaching the ending -i to the adjectival root. For example, adaju ("quick, fast"; feminine form: adaje) becomes adaji ("quickly"). The comparative and superlative forms of these adverbs are made by attaching -if (adajif, "more quickly") and -iji (adajiji, "most quickly") respectively to the original adjectival root.

Determiners

Definite Article

Definite articles indicate that its noun is a particularly identifiable to the speaker because it is either uniquely specified or previously mentioned. A definite article comes after the noun it modifies and before any adjectives or other determiners, but may, on occasion, precede the noun in poetic language. It is declined according to the noun.

	Masc. singular	Fem. singular	Masc. plural	Fem. plural
absolutive	shu	she	shoi	shai
ergative	shun	shen	(ish)noi	(ish)nai
dative	shus	shes	(ish)soi	(ish)sai
ablative	ishlu	ishle	(ish)loi	(ish)lai
genitive	shum	shem	(ish)moi, shom	(ish)mai, sham
locative	shuk	shek	(ish)koi	(ish)kai
instrumental	shut	shet	(ish)toi	(ish)tai
allative	ishfu	ishfe	(ish)foi	(ish)fai

Essentially, the singular masculine and feminine forms are declined according to the first and second declensions respectively, while the plural forms are declined according to the third and fourth declensions. All of the plural and some singular forms underwent a phonological process of epenthesis, due to the rule that consonant clusters may not exist. Thus, an i- was added to the front (*shlu -> ishlu).

Indefinite Article

The singular indefinite article is identical to the numeral thau ("one"). Its irregular declension can be seen in the Numerals section.

The plural indefinite article, thayo ("some"), also serves as the existential adjective and partitive article. Its irregular declension is given below; it is similar to the third and fourth noun declensions.

	Masc. singular	Fem. singular	Masc. plural	Fem. plural
absolutive	thayo	thaya	thayoi	thayai
ergative	thayon	thayan	thainoi	thainai
dative	thayos	thayas	thaisoi	thaisai
ablative	thailo	thaila	thailoi	thailai
genitive	thayom	thayam	thaimoi	thaimai
locative	thaiko	thaika	thaikoi	thaikai
instrumental	thayot	thayat	thaitoi	thaitai
allative	thaifo	thaifa	thaifoi	thaifai

Table of Correlatives

The demonstratives izu and lohu, like adjectives and definite articles, follow the noun. Other determiners, like numerals, precede the noun.

	Query*	Proximal	Distal	Existential	Elective	Universal	Negatory	Alternative
Determiner	baki*	izu	lohu	thayo	sone*	fila*	jasa*	ju
Person	bakta*	isto/ista	lauto/lauta	thayoto/thaita	sonto/sonta	filata	jasta*	juto*
Thing	bakmu*	izmu/izme	laumu/laume	thayomu,thaime	sonme*	filame*	jasme*	jumu*
Out of many	bakzo*	izzo/izza	lauzo/lauza	thayozo/thaiza	sonzo/sonza	filazo/filaza	jazzo/jazza	juzo/juza
Place **	bakku	isku	lauku	thayoku	sonku	filaku	jasku	juku
Source **	baklu	izlu	lauklu	thayoklu	sonlu	filaklu	jaslu	juklu
Movement **	bakfu	isfu	laukfu	thayokfu	sonfu	filakfu	jasfu	jukfu
Time **	bakthi	isti	lauthi	thayothi	sonthi	filathi	jasti	juthi
Manner **	bakde	izde	laude	thayode	sonde	filade	jazde	jude
Reason **	baxen	izxe	lauxe	thayoxe	sonxe	filaxe	jasxe	juxe

• These pro-forms are identical for both genders and decline for case according to their ending vowel, i.e. similar to nouns with the same ending vowel.

• • pro-adverbs

All interrogative pronouns as well as interrogative adjective baki are considered to be both masculine and feminine. Pro-adverbs do not decline at all.

Unless otherwise specified, determiners are declined like adjectives. Pronouns for humans, nonhuman objects, and things out of many are declined like nouns and have both masculine and feminine forms. The forms given in the above table are absolutive and decline appropriately whenever used in a sentence.

Numerals

The basic numerals are:

• jana - zero
• thau - one
• mas - two
• utu - three
• lab - four
• volo -  five
• xam - six
• mina - seven
• teth - eight
• aiku - nine
• gos - ten

Numerals usually precede the noun, but may follow it dialectally or in poetry. All numerals are indeclinable with the exception of thau ("one") and mas ("two"), which have irregular declensions. They are given below:

	masc. "one"	fem. "one"	masc. "two"	fem. "two"
absolutive	thau	thai	mas	masa
ergative	thayun	thayen	masnoi	masnai
dative	thayus	thayes	massoi	massai
ablative	thaulu	thale	masloi	maslai
genitive	thayum	thayem	masom	masam
locative	thauku	thaku	maskoi	maskai
instrumental	thayut	thayet	mastoi	mastai
allative	thaufu	thafu	masfoi	masfai

By definition, thau is singular whereas mas is plural.

After 1 and 2, only compounds containing these two numerals decline. Numerals after 10 are formed by stacking numerals into compounds. The 'tens' numerals after 10 are:

• mazgo - two
• utugo - three
• labgo - four
• vologo -  five
• xamgo - six
• minago - seven
• tetgo - eight
• aikugo - nine

Larger numerals include:

• pela - hundred
• konan - thousand
• amanto - million

For example, 1,230,879 would be thau amanto, mas pela utugo konan, teth pela minago aiku.

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers indicate position in a sequential order and act as adjectives. Ordinal numbers are formed by the suffix -su. The only exception is thau, which has two ordinal counterparts, thausu and kenu ("first, primary").

Postpositions

The majority of Luluvo postpositions are relational nouns. Such relational nouns include:

• gaiji - above, top of
• nita - below, under
• echa - inside
• vesu - outside
• zhane - near
• gupa - between, at the center of
• cheni - behind, after
• hona - before, in front of
• tivo - beside
• lamu - for, because of

These relational nouns function by being possessed, governing the genitive case. For example, chanim chenki means "behind the girl," or literally "at the girl's back." Chanim gaijki means "above the girl."

Other postpositions are indeclinable, but similarly govern other cases. The postposition kas is used with a dative case to mean "for, directed at."

Conjunctions

Conjunctions connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. Conjunctions are indeclinable.

• mau - and
• zhut - or
• roza - but
• yin - so
• zhai - for, because
• yoi - if

Syntax

Luluvo has a basic verb-final word order; the word order is usually SOV. The order of the subject and object may be reversed, however, as Luluvo utilizes a topic-comment structure which places the topic (be it subject or object) before the other noun, the comment. It is thus more useful to describe Luluvo as having a topic-comment-verb order. In poetry and colloquial speech, however, the grammatical cases allow Luluvo to have a highly flexible word order.

Questions

Questions are formed in situ; the word order of a sentence is not reversed when changed into a question. For yes-no questions, the sentence-final particle tu is used, while interrogative determiners are used for other questions.

Relative Clauses

The relativizer that connects the relative (adjectival) clause with the noun phrase is identical to the distal demonstrative lohu; it declines according to the gender, case, and number of the antecedent (noun of the main clause). The relativizer is placed before the main clause.

Vocabulary

• zhau - to be
• suna -- each other
• fichu -- for
• zhunu -- human
• toch -- should
• batahei -- act
• senira -- conscience

No.	English	Luluvo
1	I	da
2	you (singular)	vau
3	he	cho
4	we	ako
5	you (plural)	faho
6	they	choi
7	this	—
8	that	—
9	here	—
10	there	—
11	who	—
12	what	—
13	where	—
14	when	—
15	how	—
16	not	—
17	all	—
18	many	—
19	some	—
20	few	—
21	other	—
22	one	—
23	two	—
24	three	—
25	four	—
26	five	—
27	big	velu
28	long	—
29	wide	—
30	thick	—
31	heavy	—
32	small	—
33	short	—
34	narrow	—
35	thin	—
36	woman	—
37	man (adult male)	—
38	man (human being)	—
39	child	—
40	wife	—
41	husband	—
42	mother	—
43	father	—
44	animal	—
45	fish	—
46	bird	—
47	dog	—
48	louse	—
49	snake	—
50	worm	—
51	tree	—
52	forest	—
53	stick	—
54	fruit	—
55	seed	—
56	leaf	—
57	root	—
58	bark	—
59	flower	—
60	grass	—
61	rope	—
62	skin	—
63	meat	—
64	blood	—
65	bone	—
66	fat	—
67	egg	—
68	horn	—
69	tail	—
70	feather	—
71	hair	—
72	head	—
73	ear	—
74	eye	—
75	nose	—
76	mouth	—
77	tooth	—
78	tongue	—
79	fingernail	—
80	foot	—
81	leg	—
82	knee	—
83	hand	—
84	wing	—
85	belly	—
86	guts	—
87	neck	—
88	back	—
89	breast	—
90	heart	—
91	liver	—
92	drink	—
93	eat	—
94	bite	—
95	suck	—
96	spit	—
97	vomit	—
98	blow	—
99	breathe	—
100	laugh	—
101	see	—
102	hear	—
103	know	—
104	think	—
105	smell	—
106	fear	—
107	sleep	—
108	live	—
109	die	—
110	kill	—
111	fight	—
112	hunt	—
113	hit	—
114	cut	—
115	split	—
116	stab	—
117	scratch	—
118	dig	—
119	swim	—
120	fly	—
121	walk	—
122	come	—
123	lie	—
124	sit	—
125	stand	—
126	turn	—
127	fall	—
128	give	—
129	hold	—
130	squeeze	—
131	rub	—
132	wash	—
133	wipe	—
134	pull	—
135	push	—
136	throw	—
137	tie	—
138	sew	—
139	count	—
140	say	—
141	sing	—
142	play	—
143	float	—
144	flow	—
145	freeze	—
146	swell	—
147	sun	—
148	moon	—
149	star	—
150	water	—
151	rain	—
152	river	—
153	lake	—
154	sea	—
155	salt	—
156	stone	—
157	sand	—
158	dust	—
159	earth	—
160	cloud	—
161	fog	—
162	sky	—
163	wind	—
164	snow	—
165	ice	—
166	smoke	—
167	fire	—
168	ash	—
169	burn	—
170	road	—
171	mountain	—
172	red	—
173	green	—
174	yellow	—
175	white	—
176	black	—
177	night	—
178	day	—
179	year	—
180	warm	—
181	cold	—
182	full	—
183	new	—
184	old	—
185	good	—
186	bad	—
187	rotten	—
188	dirty	—
189	straight	—
190	round	—
191	sharp	—
192	dull	—
193	smooth	—
194	wet	—
195	dry	—
196	correct	—
197	near	—
198	far	—
199	right	—
200	left	—
201	at	—
202	in	—
203	with	—
204	and	—
205	if	—
206	because	—
207	name	—

Example text

Sample sentences

• Chani she vashiyi - The girl was killed.
• Chani she adaji neni - The girl arrives quickly.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Fila zhunu paji mau taki sasek mau dihek beli. Ako tori- mau senira-fichu hakim, mau sunfa dajihicham gulos-fichu toch batahim. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

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