Mngwan Jui

Progress 44%

Stats
Nouns	75%
Verbs	33%
Adjectives	0%
Syntax	83%
Words	125 of 1500

Mngwan Jui mŋwɑɳ⁵⁵ jui³²
Type
Agglutinative
Alignment
Nominative-Accusative
Head direction
Final
Tonal
Yes
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case	Number
Definiteness	Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice	Mood
Person	Number
Tense	Aspect

General information[]

The language of Mngwan Jui is still spoken as a first language in some isolated parts of Mambuhk (mɑm³³bʌk²²), the river country. The language is used in the rest of Mambuhk as a literary and clerical language. Most of the other languages in Mambuhk are descended from Mngwan Jui. Mngwan Jui means tribal speech, but due to its high status as a lingua franca, the meaning has changed over time to mean old speech. The Mngwan Jui spoken in the isolated pockets is of a different dialect than literary Mngwan Jui.

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

	Bilabial	Post-alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m		ɳ			ŋ
Plosive	p b		ʈ ɖ		k g		ʔ
Fricative	ɸ	ʒ
Affricate
Approximant	w			j
Trill
Flap or tap
Lateral fric.
Lateral app.
Lateral flap

The only possible consonant cluster is /mŋ/. The glottal stop /ʔ/ is a feature of the tone system.

Vowels[]

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Near-close
Close-mid	e
Mid
Open-mid		ʌ
Near-open	æ
Open		ɑ

Diphthongs[]

-i	j-	w-
ɑi	jɑ	wɑ
ei	je	we
æi	jæ	wæ
ui	ju	wu
ʌi	jʌ	wʌ

There are three classes of diphthongs with base vowels/semivowels /i/, /j/, and /w/. The vowel /i/ cannot be attached to any of these bases.

Triphthongs[]

æ-	j-	w-
æjɑ	jɑu	wɑu
æje	jeu	weu
æjæ	jæu	wæu
æju	juː	wuː
æjʌ	jʌu	wʌu
æwɑ
æwe
æwæ
æwu
æwʌ

The possible triphthongs can be constructed from three base vowels/semivowels, /æ/, /j/, and /w/. The triphthongs with base /æ/ are constrained to either /j/ or /w/ for the second sound, and can use any vowel for the third sound. The triphthongs with base /j/ or /w/ can use any vowel for the second sound and are constrained to use the vowel /u/ for the third sound. When the second sound is also a /u/, it becomes a long vowel.

Romanization Table[]

IPA	Romanization
ɑ	a
æ	ae
ʌ	uh
ɸ	f
ʒ	zh
ʈ	t
ɖ	d
ŋ	ng
ɳ	n
uː	uu

Phonotactics[]

The syllable structure of Mngwan Jui is CV(n). C is any consonant or consonant cluster, and V is any vowel or diphthong/triphthong. The optional n is any nasal or accepted stop. The possible consonants for n are /ɳ/, /ŋ/, /m/, /p/, /k/, /ʈ/, and /ɖ/. All stops are aspirated when final. If the initial sound of the syllable is the same as the initial sound of the diphthong/triphthong, then the combination is not possible.

Tones[]

There are eight tones in Mngwan Jui, with three flat tones and five contour tones. The tones shall be described with a lowest to highest pitch scale from one to five. In the romanization the tones are marked with the corresponding number, and in the IPA transcription they are marked with a superscript pitch scale.

Tone Name	Contour/Pitch	No.	Pitch Scale
nan1	low	1	22
faed2	low falling	2	32
kit3	neutral	3	33
zhing4	rising	4	35
kun5	broken rising	5	3-5
jung6	high	6	55
mngi7	extra high	7	55+
pik8	high falling	8	51

The broken rising tone is characterized by a glottal stop after the rise, and then a flat high tone. The glottal stop usually comes between the base and the rest of the diphthong/triphthong, or duplicates the vowel; e.g. /e/ becomes /eʔe/ with the second e having the high tone. The extra high tone is any pitch higher than the five of the high tone.

Each of the tones have opposite pairings which are used in declensions, conjugations, etc.

Tone	Opposite
low falling	rising
high falling	broken rising
low	high
neutral	extra high

Grammar[]

	Gender	Cases	Numbers	Tenses	Persons	Moods	Voices	Aspects
Verb	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Nouns	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Adjectives	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Numbers	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Participles	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Adverb	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pronouns	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Adpositions	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Article	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Particle	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No

Morphology[]

The morphology of Mngwan Jui is mostly agglutinative, although there are some inflections. Compound words are formed with the new word preceding the modified word.

Declension[]

zhap3, the root word for stick and juit2 the root word for leaf shall be used to illustrate the declension of nouns for number. The number suffixes have no defined vowel or tone, so they borrow from the word they modify. If a tone is contoured, it is reflected in the opposite contour. If the vowel borrowed is a diphthong/triphthong, only the base sound will be borrowed. If the base sound is a semivowel, borrow the next vowel. For compound words the final word is borrowed from.

Number	zhap3	juit2
Singular	zhap3	juit2
Dual	zhap3ja3	juit2ju4
Triple	zhap3ta3	juit2tu4
Few Plural	zhap3ka3	juit2ku4
Many Plural	zhap3da3	juit2du4

Conjugation[]

The conjugation suffixes also have no defined vowel or tone, but indicate tense by the first consonant and aspect by the final nasal. The borrowing of vowels and tones rule from declension still applies. The root baeing8 which means to do shall be used as an example.

	d- far past	p- near past	b- arbitrary past	k- present	g- arbitrary future	t- near future	f- far future
-m perfective	baeing8daem5 done in the far past	baeing8paem5 done in the near past	baeing8baem5 done	baeing8kaem5 do	baeing8gaem5 will do	baeing8taem5 will do in the near future	baeing8faem5 will do in the far future
-n progressive	baeing8daen5 was doing in the far past	baeing8paen5 was doing in the near past	baeing8baen5 was doing	baeing8kaen5 doing	baeing8gaen5 will be doing	baeing8taen5 will be doing in the near future	baeing8faem5 will be doing in the far future
-ng habitual	baeing8daeng5 was habitually doing in the far past	baeing8paeng5 was habitually doing in the far past	baeing8baeng5 was habitually doing	baeing8kaeng5 habitually do	baeing8gaeng5 will habitually do	baeing8taeng5 will habitually do in the near future	baeing8faem5 will habitually do in the far future

Copula[]

The copula kwa3 acts like the English is or the Japanese desu as it links the subject with the predicate. The copula acts like a verb, therefore it is subject to the rules of conjugation.

Derivational Prefixes[]

The prefixes are used to derive new words from the same root, and can not act as stand alone roots.

Root	Derivation	Derived Word
juhn3 to leave	process or state verb/adjective to noun	jid4juhn3 the process of leaving
jid4fuht3 the process of catching	skill process or state noun to noun	jid2jid4fuht3 the skill of catching
fuht3 to catch	act verb/adjective to noun	kad1fuht3 the act of catching
zhae2 to kill	associated person any to noun	tae3zhae2 one associated with killing; killer
zhae2 to kill	tool verb to noun	gu1zhae2 tool used for killing; weapon
kai6 cow	characteristic adjective noun to adjective	fweng1kai6 cowlike
tim5 to sustain	present participle verb to adjective	waed3tim5 sustaining
wa2 to honor	worthy of noun/verb to adjective	fi1wa2 worthy of honor
waein3 the color red	causative noun/adjective to verb	mngaep1waein3 to become red; to redden

Derivational Inflection[]

The inflections also are used to derive new words. Any accidental homophones caused by tone inflection are distinguished by context. In the case of negative inflection of compound words the tone of the base word is reflected.

Root	Derivation	Inflection	Derived Word
baeing8 to do	negative positive to negative	tone reflection	baeing5 to not do
mngut3 dog	diminutive noun/adjective to diminutive	reduplication	mngut3mngut3 diminutive dog; doggie
wuhing4 master	augmentative noun/adjective to augmentative	reduplication then tone reflection	wuhing4wuhing2 augmentative master; grandmaster

Pronouns[]

Pronouns have three root words that express grammatical person, and prefixes that denote the gender and if the pronoun is collective. Pronouns with collective prefixes can be declined by number to further specify the amount, and the singular declension is ignored.

Person	bet2 animate	buhi3 inanimate	jaeng2 collective animate	wun1 collective inanimate
bwuun6 first	bet2bwuun6 I		jaeng2bwuun6 we including addressee
bwuun6 first	bet2bwuun6 I		jaeng4bwuun6 we excluding addressee
kui7 second	bet2kui7 you animate	buhi3kui7 you inanimate	jaeng2kui7 you all animate	wun1kui7 you all inanimate
mngum3 third	bet2mngum3 it animate	buhi3mngum3 it inanimate	jaeng2mngum3 they animate	wun1mngum3 they inanimate

Demonstratives and Indefinite[]

There are several classes of demonstratives that are modified by prefixes that borrow the base vowel of the root according to the rules of declension and exhibit the opposite tone regardless if it is contoured or flat. The initial consonant of the prefix mirrors that of the root and the final consonant varies based on the form of the demonstrative. Exceptions to this rule are the negative, universal, and existential forms, which vary the initial consonant and mirror the final consonant to the final consonant of the root. If there is no final consonant, there is no borrowed final consonant. The determiner kaek4 is modified by either its initial or final consonant depending on the form, and does not have any prefixes. The demonstrative precedes the noun it modifies if it in fact modifies anything. A demonstrative or indefinite can be attached to the beginning of a phrase to modify the phrase, or it can act as a pronoun. The determiners act like adjectives instead.

	-p very proximal	-n proximal	-k medial	-m distal	-t very distal	-d out of sight	-ng interrogative	mng- negative	b- universal	g- assertive existential	f- elective existential
kaek4 determiner	kaep4 this very close	kaen4 this	kaek4 that	kaem4 that over there	kaet4 that far away	kaed4 that out of sight	kaeng4 what	mngaek4 no	baek4 every	gaek4 some	faek4 any
dum3 animate	dup7dum3 this very close animate	dun7dum3 this animate	duk7dum3 that animate	dum7dum3 that animate over there	dut7dum3 that animate far away	dud7dum3 that animate out of sight	dung7dum3 which animate	mngum7dum3 no animate	bum7dum3 every animate	gum7dum3 some animate	fum7dum3 any animate
mai1 inanimate	map6mai1 this very close inanimate	man6mai1 this inanimate	mak6mai1 that inanimate	mam6mai1 that inanimate over there	mat6mai1 that inanimate far away	mad6mai1 that inanimate out of sight	mang6mai1 which inanimate	mnga6mai1 no inanimate	ba6mai1 every inanimate	ga6mai1 some inanimate	fa6mai1 any inanimate
jing2 place	jip4jing2 very close here	jin4jing2 here	jik4jing2 there	jim4jing2 over there	jit4jing2 far away over there	jid4jing2 there out of sight	jing4jing2 where	mnging4jing2 nowhere	bing4jing2 everywhere	ging4jing2 somewhere	fing4jing2 anywhere
mngi2 time	mngip4mngi2 before	mngin4mngi2 now	mngik4mngi2 then	mngim4mngi2 at that other time	mngit4mngi2 at that other time long ago	mngid4mngi2 after	mnging4mngi2 when	mngi4mngi2 never	bi4mngi2 always	gi4mngi2 sometime	fi4mngi2 anytime
ngin5 manner	ngip8ngin5 in this manner very close to me	ngin8ngin5 in this manner	ngik8ngin5 in that manner	ngim8ngin5 in that other manner	ngit8ngin5 in that other manner far away		nging8ngin5 how			gin8ngin5 somehow
pe3 quantity		pen7pe3 this many/much	pek7pe3 that many/much	pem7pe3 in that other amount	pet7pe3 in that other amount far away		peng7pe3 how many/much
wuing4 kind	wup2wuing4 like this very close to me	wun2wuing4 like this	wuk2wuing4 like that	wum2wuing4 like that other kind	wut2wuing4 like that other kind far away		wung2wuing4 what kind
zhuim5 reason							zhung8zhuim5 why
jwaup3 direction	jap7jwaup3 this direction very close to me	jan7jwaup3 this direction	jan7jwaup3 that direction	jam7jwaup3 that other direction			jang7jwaup3 which direction	mngap7jwaup3 no direction	bap7jwaup3 every direction	gap7jwaup3 some direction	fap7jwaup3 any direction

Adverbs[]

Adverbs can be derived by attaching the prefix zhjep6 to an adjective. Not all adverbs can be derived from adjectives and vice versa. Underived adverbs always have a final e sound.

Postpositions[]

Postpositions in Mngwan Jui can modify a noun or a verb, creating a postpositional phrase. The postpositional phrase is placed preceding the modified word. All postpositions can be derived from the postposition word fjuhm4 that is inflected with sound and tone for different meanings. These are used for phrases not accounted for with the case particles. Some postpostions can only be used for verbs and some only for nouns.

	-ju- temporal	-je- spatial	-juh- relational
-5 by	fjum5 by time	fjem5 next to location
-3 of	fjum3 of time		fjuhm3 of group/person/concept
-8 to	fjum8 to time	fjem8 to location	fjuhm8 to group/person/concept
-6 with			fjuhm6 with group/person/concept
-4 for			fjuhm6 for group/person/concept
-2 or	fjum2 or time	fjem2 or location	fjuhm2 or group/person/concept
-7 locative	fjum7 arbitrary time than	fjem2 arbitrary location of/the
-1 progressive	fjum1 verb during
-4/1 comparative	fjum4 than time	fjem1 than location	fjuhm1 than group/person/concept
-6/4/7 equalitative	fjum6 like time	fjem4 like location	fjuhm7 like group/person/concept

Concatenation[]

To link two words together for titles and geographic names, one places the title or geographic descriptor after the name. Any subsequent titles/descriptors go after the most relevant title/descriptor. The name receives any declensions or particles. The titles themselves cannot receive any case particles, but any subordinate clauses within the title can receive them.

Numbers[]

The number system in Mngwan Jui is base ten. Numbers are formed similar to Chinese. Any number larger than a million is formed with a repeat of the system, e.g. one trillion to thousand millions. They can act as nouns or adjectives.

Number	Meaning
jid4gui6	not existing; zero
paen1	one
zhip4	two
ja2	three
kup3	four
wip1	five
fud3	six
buin5	seven
mngaeng1	eight
nae3	nine
maeng4	ten
ning1	hundred
ni2	thousand
ngud5	ten thousand
pin4	hundred thousand
jwun3	million

Syntax[]

The syntax of Mngwan Jui is highly structured with postpositional particles marking case, mood, and other.

Case/Mood Particles[]

Most particles in Mngwan Jui express case or mood, and are attached after the word for case or attached to the end of the phrase for mood. Some case particles require the attached word to be in a specific position in the sentence.

Particle	Case/Mood	Position
wing3	nominative	anywhere
di1	accusative	anywhere
zhi3	dative	after accusative
wain1	ablative	after modified
ngim6	genitive	preceding modified
wung4	vocative	beginning of phrase
ki3	locative	preceding modified
nge3	instrumental	preceding modified
zhuk1	subjunctive
faing3	conditional
jim2	imperative
ngung5	potential

Other Particles[]

The other particles are also postpositional, or go at the end of the phrase. The postpositional particles replace any case particles, and in the case of listing, the first word in the list receives the case particle. The end of phrase particles are placed after any mood particles.

Particle	Function	Position
kuhm5	to mark the speaker of a quote	preceding quote; after quote is verb to say
nuin3	to link words in a list	preceding the first word in the list
fik3	to mark a specific time
kang1	conjunction; and
nuk3	conjunction; if
mnguhik2	conjunction; but
daein1	conjunction; effect and cause
ngut2	emphasis
nu8	interrogative

Adjectives[]

The accepted order for attaching multiple adjectives to one noun is:

demonstrative
intensifier adverb
qualifiers
noun adjunct
head noun

Word Order[]

The canon word order for Mngwan Jui is Subject Object Verb. The word order of the Subject and Object is flexible because of the accompanying case particles. The adjectives are placed preceding the head.

Transformations[]

There are a few transformations in Mngwan Jui, which are achieved by word order or by attaching the appropiate words or particles to the subclause.

Relativization[]

To change an absolute clause to a relative subclause, one must attach the relative word preceding the clause and place the clause after the word it modifies. If a verb in the subclause is in progressive or habitual present form, it must be changed to perfective present form.

Sentence	Subclause	Relative Word
subject	subject	mngju7
subject	object	njuhp2
object	subject	zhuhim5
object	object	bin1

Examples:

mngwaet3wing3 mngju7 dung2di1 fuht3buhm3 jin4jing2di1 kwa3kam3

The person who caught the fish is here

dung2wing3 njuhp2 mngwaet3wing3 fuht3buhm3 jid4paei2di1 kwa3kam3

The fish the person caught is tasty

bet2bwuun6wing3 mngwaet3di1 zhuhim5 dung2di1 fuht3buhm3 king2kim4

I hate the person who caught the fish

bet2bwuun6wing3 dung2di1 bin1 mngwaet3wing3 fuht3buhm3 ngam1bam1

I ate the fish the person caught

Nominalization[]

To change an action clause to function as a noun, one must change the subject to have the genitive case particle, and derive the verb to a noun using the derivation for process or state. The subject possesses the process with the genitive particle, and the process takes the particle of its case in the sentence. The object of the clause becomes the appropriate postpositional phrase if applicable.

Example:

bet2bwuun6wing3 dung2jid2jid4fuht3di1 gi3kim3

I singular nominative | skill of catching fish accusative | to know present perfective

I know fishing

to:

bet2bwuun6ngim6 dung2jid2jid4fuht3 fjuhm3 jid4gi3wing3 jid4jeing1di1 kwa3kam3

My knowledge of fishing is great.

Causatives[]

Causatives are formed with a special causative particle attached to the subject, thereby allowing a causative clause to be attached after to serve as an object. The particle is tone inflected on certainty. Any verbs in the causative clause must be changed to present perfective or habitual perfective forms.

Certainty	Particle
caused	pu3
made	pu5
advised	pu2
mistakenly caused	pu8

Example:

bet2bwuun6pu5 mngwaet3wing3 dung2fuht3kuhm3

I singular made causative | person singular nominative | to catch fish present perfective

I made the person catch fish

Writing Systems[]

Kaewangae[]

The writing system used to phonetically transcribe Mngwan Jui is kaewan3gae6, which is a set of foreign characters adapted to Mngwan Jui. The script is considered to be very unwieldy as a result, so many abbreviated or unaltered forms of characters are used in lieu of the official writing style. The official writing can be seen at the left of the box. Kaewangae is an alphabet, made by combining two graphemes for consonants and vowels into a single character, although the abbreviated forms may make it seem like a syllabary. The tone mark is always attached after the vowel of a syllable. The diphthong, tone, and stop characters were created independently to accommodate the features of Mngwan Jui.

Demotic Script[]

Clerical Script[]

Example text[]

Excerpt from the Gubaeing[]

The gu1baeing8, which means a tool for doing, is a classic piece of literature that is a significant part of Mambuhk culture, with many allusions to it in other works. This excerpt is from when the hero faces the two faced deity of the great river, and the deity reveals its other form to the hero.

wak1 fjuhm3 guin5wing3 bet2bwuun6di1 mim3kim3jim2 jaejeng7 mngwaet3wing3 njuhp2 bet2kui7pu3 bet2kui7di1 deit2kem4 twuhng2kuhm4jim2 waed3tim5 nui8 fjuhm6 bet2bwuun6ngim6 tak3da3wing3 wi2kim4daein1 bet2bwuun6wing3 kad1zhin1di1 zhuhim5 wak1 fjuhm8 bet2bwuun6ngim6 kad1tim5di1 ngaen2taem4 zhjaeun1kaem1ngut2

"Hearken to me, fool of the earth! Behold the terrible form which thou hast wrought upon thyself! My numerous wraths against the life giving soil hath woken, for I am become Death, who doth destroy mine providence to the land!"

Excerpts from Mngwan Zhede[]

The collection of stories called mngwan4zhe4de2, or tribal tales, is an attempt by a scholar to document the old fables and fairytales told amongst the few groups who retain Mngwan Jui as a first language. The tales have been transcribed in literary Mngwan Jui from the local dialects. These excerpts are from well known stories recognizable across Mambuhk.

kun3ja3wing3 fik6di1 wjeng1zhi3 kip4bim2 wjeng1kuhm5 mngin4mngi2 zhan1wing3 naing3 mam3di1 kwa3kam3ngut2 jaeng2mngum2 fjuhm8 bjup6bum6

"The pair of tigers gave the pearl to the fox. The fox said to them, 'Now the stone is across the river!'"

wje2wung4 daeng3 bet2bwuun6wing3 bet2kui7ngim6 kang4da2di1 jaet5gaem8faing3nuk3 bet2kui7wing3 bet2bwuun6ngim6 kang4da2di1 jaet5gaem8

"Lake King, I would fight your battles if you will fight my battles."

Imperial Decree of the Census[]

All official documents of Mambuhk are still written in literary Mngwan Jui, so that every group in the diverse nation can understand. This document is a decree from the current Emperor to declare a census of the population.

mam3jweu4wing3 daeng3daeng7 fi1wa2 daeng3 mngju7 mam3da3di1 wep3kem3 kup3 pwaem3ka3 fjuhm3 daeng3 zhwan4 fjuhm3 wuhing4 fan2 fjuhm3 tae3zhik5 teit3 muhd6duh6 fjuhm3 mait1 wip1 mam3ka3 fjuhm3 men2 fjuhm3 wuhing4wuhing2 waed3wa2 fweng1kung2tae3jaet5 man6mai1di1 bjan3kam3 mak7 zhwan4wing3 mngwaet3pain3di1 dit1tim1jim2daein1 faewing6da6 fjuhm3 waed3tim5 mjae1wing3 fai2kam4 baek4 mngwaet3wing3 kek3ngep1di1 kad1kjuun3 fjuhm6 tang4tam2jim2 zha1mngwaet3nuin3 pae2mngwaet3wing3 dit1tim1mnguhik2 mui1du1wing3 dit6tim6 waed3dit1 daeng3daeng3dae3wing3 mui1 fjuhm7 kaeng4 mngwaet3dae3di1 nek1tem1 zhip4maeng4wip1 zhwan4zhwan4da2 fjuhm3 daeng3dae3wing3 nae3 tae3fai2ka4di1 nek1tem1daein1 ngep1de1 fjuhm3 gun4 daengdaeng3dae3wing3 kad1dit1di1 baeing8taem5 kad1dit1wing3 mam3jweu4 fjuhm3 ming5 fjum3 ja2 mngan5 fjum3 wip1 mngad7 fjum3 buin5 mngu4 fjum8 kup3 mngu4di1 nge8 mngid4mngi2 daeng3dae3wing3 jeing1ngep1di1 dan1dan6 nek1tem1jim2daein1 jaeng2mngum3ngim6 ngwiuk4di2wing3 mek8tem5 fi1wa2 daeng3daeng7wing3 fjuhm3 man6mai1wing3 gu1bjan3di1 kwa3kam3kang1 tae3baeing8wing3 wai3maed3taem3daein1 buhi3mngum3wing3 baeing8taem5ngut2

"By the decree of Mamjweu Emperor, worthy of honor, lord who pacifies the rivers, lord over the four winds, master of the realm, conqueror of the south, arbiter of loyal subjects, grandmaster of the order of the five rivers, reverent, martial, the whole of the realm shall be required to undergo a census of the population to assess the state of supplies. Each individual is ordered to report to their hometown to register. Men and women will be counted, but children will be excluded from the census. The census officer will determine which individuals will be deemed as children. The lords of the twenty five provinces shall appoint nine overseers to instruct the governors of the towns to conduct the census. The census shall take place on the fourth day to the seventh day of the fifth month of the third year of the reign of Mamjweu. The lords of the realm must travel to the imperial city immediately after to report their findings. This is the decree of the honorable Emperor, may it be executed to the merit of the executor."