}}
| Meula Meula | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | |||
| Analytic | |||
| Alignment | |||
| Nominative-Accusative | |||
| Head direction | |||
| Mixed | |||
| 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 | Retroflex | Velar | Uvular | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɳ (ņ) | |||
| Plosive | p b | t d | ʈ ɖ (ţ ḑ) | k g | q (q) | |
| Fricative | f | s | ʂ (ş) | x (x) | χ (r) | |
| Approximant | β̞ (w) | j (j) | ɰ (ģ) | |||
| Lateral app. | l~ɾ (l) | ɭ (ļ) |
Affricates: ps, ts, ʈʂ (tş), ks, kx, qχ
Vowels[]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Open | a |
Vowels can be long or short. Long vowels are spelled with an acute.
Phonotactics[]
Only /l/, the affricates, approximants and the fricatives can be in coda position. Only /l/ can only be followed by an affricate or a fricative.
Intervocalically, /l/ is pronounced /ɾ/. This consonant can only start a non-stressed syllable if it is the last of the word or preceeded by another consonant.
The voiced fricatives have mutaded when in coda (before a voiced consonant) or between vowels (in the old language):
| Original | In coda | Intervocalic |
|---|---|---|
| v | v (spelled w) | β̞ |
| z | j | j |
| ʑ | ʐ (spelled ş) | did not change |
| ɣ | ɰ | ɰ |
| ʁ | ʁ (spelled r) | did not change |
But in the modern language, an intervocalic fricative is always voiced and an allophone of the voiceless. The voiced fricative have disappeared either merging to voiced ones or becoming whole new phonemes as their allophones showed on the chart.
/ɰ/ merges with a following /g/, which means that fit-ox-gets (I don't like them) has become fitoǵets.
Obs.: /v/ and /ɣ/ have become voiceless in initial position, which is why no word starts with /β̞/ or /ɰ/ except those that lost their initial vowel.
Grammar[]
Nouns[]
Nouns do not decline for number, but some words are used in the plural exclusively. There are 4 cases: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, and Prepositional, and a predicative form.
Declensions:
A hyphen means the consonant takes it affricate form, assuming it has one.
Paratheses mean the vowel is taken away.
1.: Most words ending on consonant.
2. Ending on a stop consonant and having one syllable, usually with o or u.
3. Ending on a vowel that is not a and having two or more syllables.
4. Ending on a and having two or more syllables.
5. Ending on a vowel and having one syllable.
| 1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | - | - | s | s | s |
| Accusative | ef | -u | f | f | f |
| Dative | u | u | (u) | (o) | ú |
| Prepositional | ej | uoj | j | (ej) | í |
| Predicative | -e | -e | (-e) | (-e) | sé |
There are subgroups inside the five groups of declinations for words that decline slightly differently. Some examples:
| mal- | |
|---|---|
| Nominative | mals |
| Accusative | malf |
| Dative | máu |
| Prepositional | malí |
| Predicative | máe |
All words ending on L follow this pattern.
| gáuts | |
|---|---|
| Nominative | gáuts |
| Accusative | gáusef |
| Dative | gáusu |
| Prepositional | gáusej |
| Predicative | gáutse |
Most words containing a long vowel or/and a hiatus and ending on an affricate follow this pattern.
| ņapus | |
|---|---|
| Nominative | ņapus |
| Accusative | ņapsef |
| Dative | ņapsu |
| Prepositional | ņapsej |
| Predicative | ņapse |
Most words ending on stop+vowel+fricative follow this pattern.
Adjectives[]
Adjectives agree to their nouns and go after them. The chart above applies to them.
Adverbs[]
Adverbs are placed after the verb. When forming adverbs out of adjectives or nouns the preposition ta is used with the accusative case.
Verbs[]
Verbs have polypersonal agreement. There are no intransitive verbs, motion verbs need no preposition. Verbs agree to person, number and mood. The tense is made with an auxiliar verb.
|
Subject |
1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 3rd definite singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | 3rd definite plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative | eps | etş | if | a | alps | altş | apli | ar |
| Conditional | emis | etis | efis | ais | amal | atal | abol | aral |
| Potential | esá | eşá | efá | axá | lasá | laşá | labá | lará |
|
Negative |
ox | oş | ofe | una | awa | awetş | afpa | or |
| Imperative | épsó | étşé | - | - | óks | éks | - | - |
|
Object |
1st singular |
2nd singular |
3rd singular |
3rd definite singular |
1st plural |
2nd plural |
3rd plural |
3rd definite plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Indicative |
ka | ta | pi | je | kuǵa | puǵa | gets | rel |
Examples of verbs conjugation:
Conditional: Ketemiska mo iomifpi batá suts. (I would sit down if there were a chair.)
Potential: Bataefápi koades ta déiej. (There is probably a man in there.)
Negative: Fitóxje pso mekx bisikletef. (I don't like this bicycle.)
Imperative: Maǵadétşérel toş tuqref! (Buy the fish!)
Syntax[]
There is no fixed word order, although usually the structure is VSO.
Vocabulary[]
| No. | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I | pso |
| 2 | you (singular) | toş |
| 3 | he | ene |
| 4 | we | vats |
| 5 | you (plural) | taks |
| 6 | they | neks |
| 7 | this | mekx |
| 8 | that | mó |
| 9 | here | ta |
| 10 | there | déie |
| 11 | who | eņe |
| 12 | what | ri |
| 13 | where | ri als |
| 14 | when | ri fepla |
| 15 | how | ri şat- |
| 16 | not | — |
| 17 | all | awes |
| 18 | many | felis |
| 19 | some | nidalis |
| 20 | few | dapeqr |
| 21 | other | ţaşats |
| 22 | one | au |
| 23 | two | nine |
| 24 | three | galo |
| 25 | four | fó |
| 26 | five | jats |
| 27 | big | mol- |
| 28 | long | disets |
| 29 | wide | qrisets |
| 30 | thick | ronet- |
| 31 | heavy | ļox |
| 32 | small | niux |
| 33 | short | pasas |
| 34 | narrow | siǵus |
| 35 | thin | debol- |
| 36 | woman | konal |
| 37 | man (adult male) | koade |
| 38 | man (human being) | — |
| 39 | child | pjat- |
| 40 | wife | mulier |
| 41 | husband | maritus |
| 42 | mother | aba |
| 43 | father | omi |
| 44 | animal | misdeu |
| 45 | fish | qulá |
| 46 | bird | putskli |
| 47 | dog | ģasa |
| 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 | — |
Texts[]
Faebifbi sar psof dekx. (I have a dog)
Faebaje sar psof şákx leti deku. (I'm afraid of dogs)
Faebaje sar psof leqajs leti deku. (I love dogs)
Faebaje sar psof salips leti deku ses psú. (I miss my dog)
Fitepsrel pso dekef. (I like dogs)
Faşdaje awes krei meuf utesetse kó kemekxe kis dignidádej kó kis delétşoj. Lasónis kó konsiénsias faebarrel sar nesef kó avojarrel sar aox pasáf neks. (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.)